


The Hero of Ages

by StrifeMillions



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-23 00:38:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11978454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrifeMillions/pseuds/StrifeMillions
Summary: After months of hardship, the Normandy crew has somehow been able to produce a galactic army to force their enemy's hand and bring them within touching distance of (yet another) unlikely victory. A ragtag band of their galaxy's deadliest misfits, it was led by a chain-smoking, mildly alcoholic, and flighty Spectre with a sketchy past. On the bright side, she had never ever failed a mission.At times, however, fights do not have clear winners and losers, and things are not all they seem. The hero of ages will have some tough choices to make. Then again, creative solutions had always been her forte...





	The Hero of Ages

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first time in the MEBB, and it was loads of fun!
> 
> My eternal gratitude to AlessandraDC, whose amazing art goes with this story. Link to the masterpost: https://alessandradc.deviantart.com/art/The-Hero-of-Ages-702329991
> 
> I'd also like to thank my beta, ellebee, who did an awesome job improving the grammar, consistency and put up with the many mistakes that were present in my original draft, and was patient enough to look over some new scenes I added right at the end.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this piece, at least a little ^_^

A cold grey sky. It always seemed to rain in London. Not really the best weather to start a fight to retake the future. However, in this situation, the weather was uncontrollable. Their future, on the other hand, was not. It was all in their hands. And, they would prevail.

 

These were the thoughts that passed through the mind of Elia Albarn Shepard, as she made her way to the compound. She was many things to many people. Most people in the galaxy (except senile hanars and the like) were well aware of at least a few of her laundry list of achievements. The first human Spectre. The Hero of the Citadel. The Butcher of Torfan. And in recent months, the one who'd led her cycle to this crossroads in their existence. The Avatar of Victory, as Javik had anointed her.

 

The hero of ages.

 

A big group had gathered in the compound she was heading toward. Every one of them had been a part of her combat squads at some point. Every one of them was instantly recognizable across the galaxy (except maybe again, to senile old hanars). Legends of the galaxy. The crew of the Normandy. They were waiting for her. Their much-loved leader.

 

"The final gathering, huh?" mused Elia out loud.

 

"Just for a time, big sis. Until the victory party", replied Elisira, smiling brightly. She'd been the first one to be under her older sister's command. A commitment she'd made for life.

 

Wrex was the first to see her arrive. The old krogan battlemaster bellowed out, "All right, everyone. She's here. Gather around!"

 

A semi-circle formed around Elia, as she stopped somewhere in the middle. Her little sister drifted away to join it. She cracked her knuckles and worked out the kinks in her neck. Then, she bent down to punch the ground a few times, and got back up to look at the sky above. The Citadel hung there in orbit. At another point of time, it might have been considered a beautiful sight. Right then, it was a reminder of what the Reapers did to all life. The harvest.

 

Elia's face hardened. They underestimated the resolve of the galactic forces she'd assembled. They'd underestimated her, and that would be their downfall. She turned to face the group. The people she trusted with her life. The individuals, a ragtag bunch of highly skilled misfits, who had been by her side, and followed her into hell over and over, and beaten the odds to come back every single time. None of them could ever really follow anyone else. They had become her people. A large extended family.

 

"So…", began Elia.

"This is it!", continued Liara.

"The big fight", added Kasumi.

"To complete this whole saga", said Elisira.

"Started about three years ago for most here, and everyone got involved, somehow, somewhere, along the way", commented Garrus.

"The final push", mused Tali.

"It comes down to this", said Miranda.

"With us all together now", chimed in EDI.

"Standing as Avatars, a cycle later than planned", said Javik.

"We are where we were meant to be", said Solana.

"To do what we were meant to do", added Wrex.

"A collection of the very best", put in Kaidan.

"The Normandy crew!", added Grunt.

"The motherfucking heroes of this galaxy", finished James.

 

A pause. Then, raucous laughter.

 

"I have to admit. I was wondering what to say to you guys when I started out. Zaeed even told me I better have something really inspirational prepared to get everyone moving. It looks like it wasn't really needed, huh?", said Elia, shaking her head.

 

"You're all the inspiration we've ever needed, big sis", said Elisira.

 

Everyone agreed loudly. Then, all her squad-mates suddenly got down on their knees to her, perfectly synchronized.

 

"A goddess of war with no equal in combat. Our battlemaster. Our leader. Elia Albarn Shepard", proclaimed Grunt. Her very own (legally) adopted son.

 

Elia choked back tears as she looked around at the scene. The crafty old bastards had blindsided her! She could have expected no less, though. They were her people, after all!

 

"Gosh! I…I really don't know what to say. Except, thanks. For everything. Willingly following a capricious madwoman and trusting in her. Supporting her through every fucking imaginable situation for so long. You guys are the best!"

 

She looked around at the group.

 

"Elisira Noel Shepard. Garrus Vakarian. Kasumi Goto. EDI. Miranda Lawson. Liara T'Soni. Urdnot Grunt. Javik. Solana Vakarian. Urdnot Wrex. Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. James Vega. Kaidan Alenko. Rise, all you legends! The galaxy bows to you! And you bow to no one!"

 

Everyone got up.

 

"The ones who could not be here. Samara. Jack. Jacob Taylor. Zaeed Massani. The Normandy crew. And all the friends who helped on the way. I have no doubt that they will kick ass wherever they are."

Elia took a deep breath.

 

"And the fallen. Ashley Williams. Mordin Solus. Thane Krios. Legion. This…is for you. We will see this through."

 

Another deep breath. Then, she pointed up at the Citadel, orange core blazing in her deep blue irises. "The Reapers have harvested every civilization before us. Their power, immeasurable. Their resolve, unquestionable. They have laid all their cards out, thinking that they can force us into submission by brute force. They aim to end our resistance today."

 

She laughed somewhat maniacally, and favored her friends with her signature lopsided smirk. "We have other ideas. And we will make them see! Today is not the day we die. Today is not the day this cycle ends. We have all experienced crippling, heartbreaking loss. We have all been scarred immeasurably by what we have had to go through. No more. It ends today. We will prevail. We will endure. Now, get out there, and do what you were meant to do!"

A streak of lightning. A Clap of thunder. It was as if the weather itself agreed with her.

 

Everyone whooped, and got their game faces on. They looked at Elia expectantly. Elia looked back in turn. A pause. It ensued for a few moments.

 

Still paused. It was getting somewhat pregnant now.

 

Deciding that she wanted to get on with it, Miranda broke the silence, and the state of suspended animation that they had all subsided into.

 

"Okay, you got us pumped. But, what the hell is our plan? Just get out and bulldoze our way to the Citadel?", she asked, smirking.

 

"Oh, right! Plan. Yes, a plan. The plan! It is a corker", proclaimed Elia, jumping around.

 

Deciding that as adorable as his best friend's manic pixie dream girl act was, they had all best be moving out as soon as possible, Garrus spoke up, saying, "El, here are the assignments that EDI, Miranda and I have been informed of, based on the intel that I was provided by Anderson and his people. There's also an estimate of the enemy force strengths. You need to decide whom you want to send where."

 

He started projecting an image of the battlefield on the ground, with his omni-tool.

 

Miranda took up the narrative, with Garrus lighting up each area she was covering as she described the plan.

 

"You may have heard Anderson talk of 'hammer' and 'sword' teams earlier on. These names have been assigned because the plan literally is to strike two hammers down either side of a sword. Hammer teams will create enough of a distraction on the sides, so that the center is freed up, and the Sword team will cut through the resistance to reach the conduit up into the Citadel. Once they have reached it, the surviving members of Sword, and we’re hoping there are at least a few, will take the ride up. Once there, they will arm and activate the Crucible…Any questions?"

 

Confirming that there were none, she went on, "Now, on to the areas that need support. Hammer team needs assistance on the ground in these areas…Sectors 3 and 7. We have to take out the AA guns Reaper forces have installed, so they can land safely and start the distraction…Both sectors have heavy resistance, as can be expected. The bulk of Sector 3 forces are marauders and cannibals, with a few brutes thrown in. Sector 7, on the other hand, seems to be mainly occupied by ravagers, swarmers and the odd banshee. Expect harvesters at both locations. Suggest a task force of three to five crew members of the Normandy at each location. Now, onto the Sword team. Resistance is heavy, and mixed. Expect every Reaper force to appear at some point on the way. This is the team that'll be under the most fire and has to make it up to the Conduit at any cost. The people who are on it will effectively be the galaxy's greatest, and only, hope. Oh, and a general note to everyone is to make sure to bring enough medigel."

 

She turned to Elia, asking her, "Now El, you need to decide how you're going to divide up your crew for this final push."

 

Elia took a deep breath, digesting all that she had been told. After some contemplation, she nodded and spoke. "All right. Here's how we'll do it. Wrex, take Javik, Kaidan, Liara and James to Sector 3 and take out those AA guns. And Miri, take Sumi, Grunt, Eli, and Sol over to Sector 7 to help out the Hammer team there. Garrus, Tali, and EDI, you guys are with me on Sword duty."

 

Wrex and Miranda nodded, and their assigned squads shuffled over to join them. Garrus, Tali and EDI walked over to join Elia.

 

"All right! Everyone's got their assignments. There's a whole galaxy looking to us to get them out of this mess. And you know, I believe we are going to do it. We will be the ones to make the difference, and stop this Reaper shitshow. Channel all your rage and leave nothing behind on the field. As your leader, I have only this to ask of you all - stay safe, above all else. If any of you dare to go and die on me, I will personally hunt you down and kick your ass. I want a full roster when they put statues of us anywhere a living being can see it. Now, let's all wait for Anderson's signal to move out."

 

Everyone milled around, bantering back and forth, saying their final goodbyes to each other, calming their nerves. In the middle of all this, Elisira walked up to Elia and took her aside. She had a funny look on her face.

 

"Big sis…Mum's calling in on my communicator. Want to take it together?"

 

Elia nodded, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. Their mother was one of their biggest cheerleaders. She hadn't been involved all that closely with the war, but she'd always been there in the background. Elisira led her to a secluded spot in the compound as she accepted the video call.

Hannah Mary Aldin-Shepard, Rear-Admiral of the Systems Alliance appeared at the other end. She smiled brightly at her daughters.

 

"El! Eli! It's so good to see you!"

 

Both daughters smiled wanly at their mother.

 

"Hey mom!", they chorused, somewhat half-heartedly.

 

Hannah shook her head and chuckled. "I can understand that you two may be feeling anxious. The coming battle is going to be hard. Even so, you two have gone into such situations before, and you've always come out on top."

 

"This is going to be bigger than all those times, mom", protested Elia.

 

"We're scared", admitted Elisira.

 

"And you should be. Fear keeps you alive. But don't let it bog you down. Take strength from it. Make it a weapon you can wield."

 

Both daughters nodded. Their mother wiped a tear from her eye.

 

"Ah! I promised myself I wouldn't cry. I'm so proud of the both of you. My little girls! I wish I could be there with you right now, but all I can ask of you is a promise. Just…make sure you come back home."

 

"We promise", chorused the Shepard sisters.

 

Hannah nodded. "Good. Stay strong. Stay clear. Goodbye, darlings."

 

"Bye, mom!"

 

After Elisira cut the call, she was embraced by her older sister. She returned it happily. Elia kissed her little sister. It was more needy than passionate, but it was meant to ground both of them. Eventually, they had to break for air.

 

"I love you, little sis."

 

"I love you too, big sis."

 

"How about me?", asked a new voice. Kasumi.

 

"And me?", added another voice. Solana.

 

The sisters turned to see Kasumi and Solana walking towards them.

 

"So…"

 

"Come here, you two!", said Elia, as the two newcomers were added into the intimate embrace. Kisses were freely exchanged between them, as they each provided a sort of morale boost to the rest, affirming their love for each other. They had hope, despite all the difficulties that lay ahead.

 

"So, the three of us are together on this last stretch", said Solana, motioning towards herself, Kasumi, and Elisira.

 

"But, you're off in a different direction", said Elisira, pointing at her older sister.

 

"I think these lineups are the best we can put out there, considering the information we have", said Elia.

 

"I suppose it has nothing to do with what you discussed with EDI and the Geth in that secret meeting?", asked Kasumi, smirking pointedly at her primary.

 

Elia flushed slightly. "It's a part of it", she conceded.

 

"It's all good, big sis. We trust you. Implicitly. Just make sure to tell us about it later, all right", said Elisira.

 

"Yeah. As much as I really hate the fact that you're off on your own, I have no doubt that you'll keep your promise to take us all to your beachside house in the island you call Hawaii", added Solana.

 

Elia gave a wry chuckle. "If it even survived all this carnage."

 

"Then we'll rebuild it together, brick by brick, plank by plank. Nothing but time on our hands once we're through with this", replied Solana.

 

Everyone laughed at that.

 

They joined the rest of their friends. Talking about virtually nothing while they waited was a good way to keep their minds off of what lay ahead.

 

Presently, Anderson came into the compound. He saw the easy camaraderie that existed between all of his one-time protégé's friends. No, it was really more like family than just a crew. The Normandy family. One that he was simply a part of. Despite being its initial leader, he wasn't the one who had made it the legendary vessel it was. Under him, it had been simply an extremely high-tech military vessel. Under Elia, it had grown into a symbol. Of unity. Of a crew that didn't know the meaning of failure. It had become a rallying cry for an entire galaxy drawn into a war with the odds stacked against them.

 

He walked up to the group. They stopped talking as they noticed him coming up.

 

"So, are you all prepared?", he asked.

 

"Hell, yeah!", said Elia. Everyone cheered in affirmation.

 

"Good. Then let's move out and win this thing!", said Anderson, with a confidence he did not fully feel.

 

"Cool!" Elia turned to her friends. "This is it! You all know the score, so I'm not going to say anything else. Let's move out!"

 

And so, it began.

 

-0-

 

"Goddamn these Ardat Yakshi", complained Tali.

 

"I got hit on by one. Though, to be fair, she was kind of cute", said Elia, conversationally.

 

"Yeah. Samara's daughter", said Garrus.

 

"Dropkicked the bitch into oblivion", said Elia, proudly.

 

"What does the term 'dropkick' mean, Shepard?", asked EDI.

 

"Oh. It's like you jump and do a flying kick at your opponent as you drop to the ground. I went for her head, so it got dislodged and went flying itself." She snickered.

 

A slightly uncomfortable pause ensued. Thankfully, some marauders had popped up for them to take out.

 

"That sounds like it'd have created a mess", commented Garrus, guardedly.

 

"Oh yeah, it did. Blood spattered everywhere", said Elia, somehow seeming inordinately happy.

 

"I notice that you seem to get excessively excited by bloodshed and gore", said Tali.

 

"Really? I do? I mean, Eli and Sumi keep telling me I have an unhealthy obsession for zombie films", mused Elia, thoughtfully.

 

"It is a subjective question, but I would also have to concur with Tali. The sight of blood excites you to a much larger degree than most of your crew. The only ones who may even come close to comparing, are Wrex and Grunt, and they're both krogan, a race known for their violent urges", said EDI.

 

"What? You make it sound like I'm sort of warmongering vampire. And why didn't anyone tell me anything?", asked Elia, with some asperity.

 

A pause, as they took down some cannibals.

 

"We thought you would have realized it yourself, considering how smart you were. Besides, it didn't sound like the kind of conversation anyone would have wanted to have with you", said Garrus.

 

"Huh?! I'm always open to feedback, you know. This is exactly like the time we were chasing down my clone on the Citadel. Seriously, why don't any of you tell me these things?", Elia asked, somewhat indignantly.

 

Another pause. A harvester dropping off some husks.

 

"I submit that this is not the best time to discuss this, Shepard. A harvester is up ahead", said EDI.

 

Elia grunted. "Oh! All right, but we are going to talk about this later", she said, as she cloaked and ran ahead.

 

"Dodged a bullet there. Thanks, EDI", whispered Garrus to the synthetic, who was right next to him in cover.

 

"It was no problem", whispered back EDI.

 

"Vakarian, EDI, you guys should really turn off your communicator before whispering behind my back. I heard that!", snipped Elia, triumphantly.

 

"Crap!", said Garrus and EDI, together.

 

Everyone burst out laughing, as they went about taking down the harvester.

 

-0-

 

"Whoa! Why don't we have more of these!?", asked Elisira, as she looked in awe at the destruction her Cain had wrought upon the Reaper forces. It had taken out both a Destroyer-class Reaper and the AA guns at Sector 7.

 

"Because it's damnably hard to produce it, takes a long time to fire its only round, and causes a random explosion that's difficult to predict. That's not even considering the specialized ammunition you need for it, and the difficulty of loading said ammunition. And the property damage", supplied Miranda.

 

"Okay, I see your point", said Elisira.

 

"Really? Even I was not fully convinced, to tell you the truth. I just repeated what the quartermaster told me", said Miranda, chuckling.

 

Their entire group laughed at that.

 

"All right. AA guns taken offline, Hammer team ready. Time to fight our way through to our ride", said Kasumi.

 

"Yeah. Need to double time it. The window of opportunity is quite small, and we need to…", said Elisira, sounding unsure, getting into her own version of the manic dream pixie girl act. It happened whenever she was nervous about something, as Kasumi and Solana (and Elia) knew all too well.

 

"We will make it. Don't worry, Eli. Everyone's counting on us!", cut in Solana.

 

Elisira took a deep breath and nodded.

 

"Yeah!", she said, smiling at the turian.

 

"All right! Let's go! My mummy's waiting", said Grunt, taking off.

 

"And our love", said Kasumi, Elisira, and Solana, following the young krogan.

 

Miranda shook her head and smiled wryly. "I'd like to avoid a repeat of Project Lazarus if at all possible. So you better take care of yourself, El!", she thought to herself, as she followed in her teammates' wake.

 

-0-

 

"I was sure El had given me the tough shit", groused Wrex, as he regenerated from the latest marauder he'd run into.

 

They had made their way to the top of what seemed to be a car park. It was a reasonable vantage point for their purpose – a clear shot at the AA gun (and Destroyer unit guarding it) for the Cain.

 

"Well, Garrus did say to expect brutes, Wrex", said Liara, peaceably, as she caught three cannibals in a singularity field.

 

"And to be fair, they did tell us to expect very heavy resistance. Last stand and all that. Not completely Lola's fault", added James, as he gunned down the cannibals Liara had served up to him.

 

"Elder Shepard is counting on us. We cannot fail her!", exclaimed Javik.

He had been fighting like a man possessed the whole time. It seemed like possibly defeating the Reapers and finishing his mission had given him a spring in his step. Not that anyone was really complaining. The Reapers they needed to destroy so that they could prevent the end of the world as they knew it understandably caused the arrangement of an intervention for a friend, who seemed to be behaving rather strangely, to take a backseat.

 

"Of course! Kaidan, do you have a clear shot? I think we're close enough", asked Wrex.

 

"Only one way to find out, Wrex, old chum. If you could cover me while I aim the bloody thing, it would be appreciated", said Kaidan.

 

"Of course. Right, let's take positions around Alenko. Javik, you're on over-watch. Liara, stay close and distract anyone who gets too close. Vega and I will engage them at short- to mid-range. Give us a holler if you need help. Let's get it done, friends!", said Wrex.

 

"Yeah!", chorused the rest, as they got ready for the next wave.

 

About five minutes and one big explosion later, the five looked in awe at the weapon in Kaidan's hand.

 

"Well…all I have to say is…why the hell didn't we make more of these?", asked James.

 

"Safety regulations?", was Javik's hazarded guess.

 

"At this point, I don't think anyone is going to enforce them", commented Liara.

 

"In any case, this was a job well done, guys! El would have been proud of us", said Wrex.

 

"It is pretty crazy out there. I'm sure the ground Hammer team could use our help", said Kaidan.

 

Wrex reloaded his shotgun and stomped on the ground. "Then let's get moving. We still haven't received a signal for extraction, so I say we keep fighting!"

 

"I agree", said Liara.

"Anything to give Lola a better chance", said James.

 

"The Reapers will burn", said Javik, smirking unpleasantly.

 

"Then, we're decided. Let's move out, people!", said Wrex, running off towards the area where the AA gun had stood, the others following closely in his wake.

 

-0-

 

Elia swore. Garrus and Tali were too injured to continue. That last fight had taken a lot from them. Where had all those banshees come from?! Were there really that many Ardat Yakshi?! And EDI…EDI had to go as well, so that she could start her upload. She made a decision, put a call through to Joker on the comm link, and asked him to come down for an extraction.

 

In the relative peace of their spot just a few hundred meters away from the conduit, Elia saw a good opportunity to light up. So, she did. It helped that she essentially had a free, unlimited supply of her favored Omega Lights. One of her most valuable financial holdings was her thirty-odd percent stake in Omega Corporation. The other two major shareholders were Aria T'Loak and Aleena D'Envers. Aria ran most of the operations and Aleena looked after the finances (coincidentally, she also doubled up as Elia's own financial adviser) for the company, with Elia being a passive investor.

 

Turning to Tali and Garrus, she said, "Normandy's going to be here soon. You guys can bug out and heal up", with a cheer she did not entirely feel.

 

"What!? No! That is not happening. We're in this together, until the end, El! You can't do this to us!", lamented Garrus.

 

"Yeah, El! We still have to watch your back through the final stretch. Don't deny us this…Please!", said Tali, pleading their case.

 

"And this platform is ready to continue. And it fully intends to", said EDI, firmly.

 

Elia sighed and looked up at the sky. It was still raining. Luckily, they were in a shaded area. That prevented her cigarette from being put out. Small mercies were always easier to appreciate in dire circumstances.

 

"Garrus, Tali, you two are injured. Garrus can hardly walk, and I'm damn sure Tali's swimming in antibiotics by now with that suit rupture. And EDI, you need to get on the upload link, pronto! You don't have much time left before we activate the Crucible, and the geth will have to close off the link before it hits…Don't worry about this, I'll make sure to see it through. You need to make sure that you're safe. Mordin. Thane. Legion. Ashley. I've lost too many people to lose more. I won't lose any more."

 

"Our worry was never that you wouldn't get this done, El", started Garrus.

 

"Our worry was always that we'd lose you in the process", finished Tali, voice quivering.

 

"This platform can be present even as the upload starts, Shepard. It will cause no loss in performance…and it will not affect my survival in any way."

 

"You really should work on your lying. If you really do start the upload, then you know that your platform, as you call it, may go out in the middle of the fight. And if you stay around to see it through, you may end up dying. So no, my friend. You're one of us, and you're as important as the rest. You don't get to volunteer to be a martyr."

 

"And you do?", asked Tali.

 

"Yeah! What gives you the right?", asked Garrus.

 

"Nothing. I don't think I'm martyring myself in the slightest. I'm simply finishing what I started, like any self-respecting anti-hero", said Elia, smiling wryly. "You guys have never left me. You don't get to begin now. I'm counting on you!"

 

"Shepard. A question, if I may…You seem unnaturally calm about all this. Why is that? Why do you stare in the face of death willingly for us, but not let us do the same for you? I do not understand this double standard. We love you as much as you love us. It does not seem fair at all."

 

"That sounded remarkably subjective, EDI" said Elia, smirking.

 

"Stop deflecting, El! This isn't a philosophical discussion about what life truly is or whether I have a soul or something. This is about you being unreasonable and unnecessarily acting the bleeding hero", snapped EDI.

 

Elia started laughing. "Ah, EDI. Never ever change. Believe in us, however unscientific that may be. Believe in your teammates because seriously, how many times have we lost?" She favored the synthetic with a lopsided smirk. The cigarette butt was sent flying with a practiced flick. "Believe in me, however difficult that may be. Most of all, believe in yourself, and get our friends to safety. I'm counting on you, old girl."

 

"I…it was never difficult to believe in you, El."

 

A bright, affectionate smile. For the fiftieth time, EDI wished she could actually cry.

 

Elia then turned to encompass her old friends in her smile.

 

"The Normandy should land near here quite soon…I know I'm asking for a lot, but please don't worry about me. Just make sure you guys get out in time and that you're all safe."

 

"Promise us that we'll see you again", pleaded Garrus.

 

Elia chuckled. "Getting soft on me in your old age, Vakarian? All right. I promise."

 

Suddenly, she disappeared. An optical cloak. Silence reigned. She had gone.

 

Tali yelled out, "We will hold you to that, Elia Albarn Shepard."

 

Silence again. Then, the ghost of a laugh rang out, and the three left behind could only hold onto that acknowledgement.

 

-0-

 

"Damn it! I'm pretty sure I broke a rib!", thought Elia, as she spat blood on the floor.

 

The floor's aesthetics weren't really affected, however. It was…dirty, in a word. She didn't want to think about what had made its home there. There were giant tubes all around. They seemed similar in nature to the ones she'd seen in the Collector base beyond the Omega-4 relay. An organic DNA processing factory, creating the Reaper ground troops. And possibly, more Reapers. Elia was pretty sure the asari, the turians, the salarians and her own race would make good candidates for it.

 

She took stock of her present state. Sore all over, some difficulty breathing (probably from the broken ribs). Even so, she was mostly whole. It was a small miracle, considering that she'd nearly caught a Reaper destroyer laser beam and been transported up into Earth's stratosphere via the conduit in the recent past. Not all that much time could have passed. Her armor was pretty beaten up, and seemed charred in a few places. The only usable weapons she had were Raze, her trusty fusion blade short-sword, and the original Kassa Locust she'd filched on that mission with Kasumi at Bekenstein. Her omni-tool still seemed functional. Her right leg hurt horribly. She resolved to be careful and not to put any weight on it moving forward. All in all, not too bad, everything considered.

 

Her communicator suddenly picked up.

 

"Hello…anyone there?", asked a gravelly voice. Sounded like…Anderson?

 

"Anderson?", she asked, voice scratchy.

 

"Elia? That you?"

 

"Yeah. It is me. So you made it too!"

 

"Yes, I did. I think we're in different parts of the Citadel, however.

 

Elia looked around, taking in her surroundings.

 

"Yeah. Can't see any life around where I am."

 

"Same here. How are you doing, by the way?"

 

Elia coughed.

 

"I'm alive. Been better, though."

 

Anderson chuckled.

 

"You and me both, child."

 

"So, any ideas what we should do now?"

 

"The tubes here seem to lead to somewhere. I'm going to follow them."

 

"Okay, then I'll do the same. I suspect they lead to some sort of central processing facility."

 

"Agreed. Keep on the comm link and update each other if we see anything."

 

Elia walked along the corridor, following the tubes, hoping to find the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel.

 

-0-

 

"I'm here. It looks like the control room for this station. I believe we should be able to arm the Crucible from here", said Anderson.

 

"Great. I'm nearly there…I think", replied Elia, as she limped her way towards the end of the corridor. She could see light at the entrance.

 

Just as she was about to enter the area, a sudden cry rang out. It was Anderson. Then, two gunshots rang out. Elia rushed into the room, injuries all but forgotten, to see what the commotion was. She saw the admiral slumped over clutching his middle. Another stood facing him, gun pointed in his direction. The Illusive Man. Or what had once been him. Most of the skin that was visible outside his suit had been tinged steel-grey. He was obviously in the process of being Reaper-ified.

 

More importantly, it seemed like he'd just shot Anderson at almost point-blank range.

 

Elia felt herself getting angry. She channeled it and let her biotics flare up. If Grunt or Wrex had been around, they would have called it her blood rage. Kasumi and Elisira called it her 'crazy bitch mode'. Either way, the Illusive Man was going to be on its receiving end.

 

He...no, he could not be called a man anymore. It was a thing.

 

It turned in Elia's direction a split second before she sent it flying towards the wall on the far side. Elia groaned and spat out more blood as she watched it get up with some difficulty.

 

"That was painful", the thing complained. Its voice sounded like an auto-tuned version of the one belonging to the man it had once been.

 

"It was meant to be", replied Elia.

 

"You wound me, Shepard. I did not expect you to be so...unfriendly", it said. Its red eyes looked at her, seemingly sizing her up. "You're hurt. Just like that old man you used to follow. But, you are here. And because of that, you can be witness to the dawn of a new era. A golden age. I will control the Reapers with the weapon you have so kindly built, and harness their power to ascend humanity to the apex of evolution."

 

Elia laughed harshly.

 

"Golden age of what? Harvested Reaper husks? And have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately? The Reapers control you, not the other way around."

 

The thing laughed evilly. "You are misled. That is what the indoctrination wants you to believe. Despite our disagreements, I'd like to extend you an invitation to join me, Shepard. You are an asset that cannot be ignored."

 

"On the contrary. I'm not the one who's misled. I figured out enough of how indoctrination worked from the experiments Miri's dad carried out. My mind will not receive it, despite the oppressive strength of its signals in this area. Your superiority complex has unfortunately caused your downfall. I will finish this. You may have been a man of ideals once, but I will have no regrets ending you, Jack Harper."

 

The thing let out a deep breath. "So be it. Goodbye, Shepard."

 

It grew a club, similar to the Reaper brutes, where its right hand used to be. Then, it let out a ear-shattering howl before brazenly charging towards Elia, club raised. It probably thought that Elia could not do much in her weakened state. Big mistake. There was a reason Wrex had referred to Elia Albarn Shepard as a Goddess of War. The woman had played with varren as a child. She had wrestled krogan, carried yahg and broken colossi with her bare hands.

Even injured as she was, she would not be denied. Especially with her goal so close at hand.

 

Elia ran towards and shot at the oncoming hulk with her Locust. Just before it reached her, she charged off towards the side wall. It stopped and looked in the direction she'd gone, but could not see her. 

 

Suddenly, she appeared above, sword pointed downwards. She used gravity and the momentum of her charge maneuver to embed Raze fully in its chest. She quickly withdrew her sword and jumped off to the side, taking a stance that suggested she was prepared to react quickly should it be required.

 

The hulk's club and steel grey exterior began to peel away, revealing an old, frail-looking man.

He looked at Elia once, simply said, "Thank you", and then fell over, dead.

 

Elia held her position a moment longer, before slumping to the floor, taking in deep lungfuls of air. After a moment, she remembered that she hadn't checked on Anderson yet, and immediately got up and went over to him. She lifted him up, and propped him against one of the steps in the room.

 

"Anderson...Anderson...ANDERSON", she yelled, as she slapped his face to get a reaction, any sign of life, from him.

 

He was still breathing, but it was short and labored. He opened his eyes.

 

"I'm sorry", he managed out.

 

"Don't be. I took care of it. Just...breathe", choked out Elia.

 

He reached a hand out to wipe the tears that had begun to form in her eyes.

 

"Don't cry. I'm proud of you, child. So, so proud...Will you stay with me a while?"

 

"Anything."

 

She sat down next to him, as they looked out at the view of their home planet. At another time, the view would have been praised for its beauty.

 

"Been a long ride, huh?"

 

A wry chuckle.

 

"You're telling me?"

 

A pause.

 

"I'm sorry. If I'd gotten here sooner..."

 

"Then we may both have been on the floor and not having this conversation."

 

A cough.

 

"You have any cigarettes on you?"

 

"Oh? Yeah, I do."

 

A packet was fished out from somewhere about her person. She lit it up and placed it in his mouth.

 

"Didn't know you smoked."

 

"Not very often."

 

Peaceable silence. For a while.

 

"I don't regret it. Any of it. You were always going to be the one to finish this. Our hero. The hero of ages."

 

A choked sob.

 

"I thought I told you...not to cry."

 

Ragged breathing, louder and more desperate than it had been before.

 

"But, you're abandoning me here..."

 

Sad sniffles. A pained chuckle.

 

"I was always just the enabler."

 

"I...why? What did you see in me?"

 

"A person who would always see it through. And now, you need to go ahead...for all of us...Goodbye, child."

 

He was still. She shook him. Once. Twice. No response. She shook her head, closed his eyes and laid him out more comfortably on the ground.

 

"Thank you for everything", she whispered, as she closed his eyes, finished the cigarette and flicked it away.

 

Elia got up and resolutely made her way to the next room. It was time to finish it. There would be no more lost. Not one fucking more.

 

-0-

 

"Your crucible is armed."

 

"Yes. Yes, it is."

 

Distracted puffing.

 

"I guess your choice is made for you, huh?", asked the child, sadly.

 

The Catalyst.

 

"Give me a fucking break, kid", barked Elia.

 

She took a long drag on her cigarette.

 

"You really like smoking, don't you?", asked the child, curiously.

 

Elia shrugged, non-committal. "It's relaxing, I suppose. And I especially need it to assimilate and come to terms with this crazy situation. Let's recap, shall we? Something that looks like a little brat from Earth tells me it's over a million times my age and caused me all this grief these last five years. And you were created by those stupid monster shellfish. It seems like even the progenitors have been trying to screw themselves over from the very start. I'll bet they included everyone else in the punishment just to spite them. Ugh. Totally not cool, dude!"

 

The Catalyst shuffled its feet. "We tried indoctrinating you. We always believed that our path was the only path. The only solution. In over fifty million years, you are the first who could make us question ourselves. You understood the indoctrination, rejected it, and made us doubt what we were doing. When its whole purpose was to make you doubt yourself. Maybe, we do need a new direction. An alternate path. You must be what your species calls a…Messiah? Not just for your army, but for ours as well. You are…special."

 

Elia barked out a wry laugh. "I've heard that one before. My whole life, in fact. It pisses me off, to tell you the truth. I ain't special. Just boneheaded. And stubborn."

 

She thought for a while about what the Catalyst had told her.

 

Eventually, she said, "Your revelations are…disturbing. The upshot is that you're not even the final boss I'm supposed to beat! And I suppose we will need all the help we can get to fight this 'Black Tide'. Your knowledge would certainly be invaluable."

 

The Catalyst nodded. "You have been given the power to make our decisions. I…all of us, submit ourselves as a tool for you to wield. The reason only you could come here, further than anyone else, and have the power to change the course of this galaxy, is that you truly are deserving of it."

 

Elia shook her head. "About whether I'm deserving, I don't know. Frankly, I don't really care either. What I do know is that you're forcing me put my retirement off, kid. Indefinitely, by the sound of things. One thought has been crossing my mind almost constantly the last few months, and that is - why the fuck should I have to deal with all this tough shit? Ugh…Eli and Sumi and Sol are so going to throw a fit. Seriously, I do hope you're happy, you sadistic little munchkin!"

 

The Catalyst giggled, and then checked itself. Surprised, it commented, "That has never happened before. I felt that what you said was funny…and I laughed…Such a subjective reaction. Almost...indicative of life? I suppose that is why the Geth and your ship AI follow you without question. You treat us like you treat anyone else. You'll remember that the Geth asked the Quarians in your cycle about AI having souls. A similar question went without answer in every cycle before. So many ages passed before an organic life-form answered in the affirmative. It was a member of your crew. And she was one of their creators. That was a...turning point. Organics and synthetics just never worked together before. Nor was any single person able to get so many species use their different strengths in tandem with each other."

 

Elia look at the Catalyst curiously, before saying, "I was there. I heard. And by the looks of it, you aren't fully synthetic, which means some bits of you are organic. Just like me, technically. Sentience shouldn't be that unnatural to you."

 

The Catalyst shook its head.

 

"This is the first time that I've felt…or allowed myself to feel…sentient. Before, it was just the Leviathan programming that guided our actions, or so we thought. Maybe, it wasn't. It was just us reacting to the pressure of racing against time. I suppose that wasn't the most rational way to try to solve the problem. But, in your hands, I can sense that things will be different. And… we feel quite comfortable leaving our fate with you."

 

Elia took one last drag on her cigarette and flicked the butt away.

 

"Okay, this is what we'll do. I'll deactivate you all for now. We need to stop the fighting. And then, our galaxy needs to rebuild. It really shouldn't be hard with you guys helping us. Once we get back to some sort of civilized society, we can start preparing for whatever comes next. We need to work from the shadows. And I can certainly foresee a lot of…diplomatic discussions for me on the horizon."

 

She groaned loudly at the last bit.

 

The Catalyst nodded.

 

"If I may offer a suggestion, let me merge myself with you. Similar to what Legion did. An sort of upload into your system, in this case. I can channel it through your omni-tool as it is a natural implant in your case…and I will be directly able to help you in whatever way possible from here on out."

 

Elia's eyes lit up and she whistled.

 

"If you did that, my tool would be the most advanced one there is?"

 

The Catalyst replied, "Yes. It would be by far, the most advanced one in the galaxy. And you would be an even more advanced being than you are now. Though, we would share thoughts…and possibly feel each other in our heads at inopportune times."

 

Elia chuckled.

 

"It sounds a lot like the technology that an acquaintance by the name of Ryder was working on. Would you have control over my body?"

 

The Catalyst shrugged. "I suppose. We'd be sharing space. Parts of us would be part of the same entity. Once I fully assimilate, I can explore modifications on your system…with your consent, of course."

 

Elia nodded. "Sounds interesting. I think it’s worth it just see Garrus' face. He's totally going to be green with envy. Well, as green as he can be, that is…All right, load yourself in, C."

 

The male form shook its head. "C?"

 

"Your new name. C. Short for Ciri."

 

"You named me for a female?"

 

Elia shrugged, and said, "Well, yeah…Girls are way cuter."

 

The Catalyst made a disgusted noise, and suddenly changed form to match almost perfectly the picture Elia had in her mind. That struck her as extremely curious.

 

"That was weird. It's almost like you read my mind", she said, in wonder.

 

"Ciri, at your service, Mistress Elia", the girl said.

 

"Er...all right. Umm, do you have a gender you'd prefer to be considered?"

 

"Yes. I am a female. You defined my form with your thoughts. I committed to it."

 

"Oh. Umm...that's nice. I guess. It's nice, right?"

 

"You tell me, Mistress", snarked Ciri.

 

"Was that sarcasm?"

 

"You think?"

 

Elia chuckled. "We're going to get along famously!"

 

Ciri snorted.

"That's sort of the point."

 

"All right. You can…upload yourself in, smartass", said Elia, giving her a lopsided smirk.

 

"With pleasure, mistress", said Ciri, as she jumped and got sucked into Elia's omni-tool.

 

The tool seemed to become bigger, covering first her whole arm, then extending through her body. It lit up rhythmically for a while, and then was still. Elia could also feel another presence in her consciousness. The Catalyst, no doubt. Or Ciri, as she'd been christened.

 

"Umm, Ciri? You in there?", asked Elia, doubtfully, flexing her arms and legs at the same time to check that they felt the same. She gasped as she realized that her left knee still hurt and that her ribs still felt broken.

 

"Of course I am. You'll remember that we did just merge a few seconds ago, Mistress. Now, if you don't mind, let's finish this so we can get on with our lives."

 

Her omni-tool grew two short barrels.

 

"I can shoot with these?", asked Elia, interestedly.

 

"Yes, unless you'd prefer slicing the red thing up?"

 

Elia shook her head.

 

"Nah, this is fine. I don't feel like I could take that strain now. I could get used to this, though. I could be a total badass mecha android person. Plus, I actually had no bullets left."

 

"I noticed. I should point out that it may not have been your finest piece of calculation", said Ciri, sarcastically.

 

"You really take the snarky part seriously, huh?"

 

Ciri simply grunted. Elia shook her head and started jogging towards the red apparatus, shooting it repeatedly. Somewhat belatedly, she hoped that EDI and the Geth had managed to get to safety before she set off the chain of events to finally end the war.

 

-0-

 

Kasumi shot the last of the Marauders down, around the same time that Miranda took out two cannibals with well-aimed biotic blasts. Grunt had taken care of the brute, but seemed slightly dazed from the exertion. She quickly walked over and administered some medigel to help him feel better. His kakliosaur also seemed fine, and yelped excitedly when Elisira and Solana went over to check on him.

Solana helped the young Krogan up as they followed Miranda to the Corvette. A vehicle that the ever-resourceful former Cerberus operative had appropriated to join Elia's team after the business with her family had been concluded. She had popped up out of nowhere to help them escape the mercenary group hired by Brookes during that initial ambush on Elia. As always, she had been an immense help during that mission, with her previous knowledge of Brookes' activities and methods proving extremely valuable. And, like everyone who had ever worked closely with Elia, she had decided and been allowed to stay on the Normandy, to continue the fight by her leader's side.

 

Kasumi's communicator prickled up.

 

"Kasumi, Miranda. You guys there?", asked a voice at the other end. It was Garrus.

 

"Kasumi here, Garrus. Miranda is around, and Grunt, Eli and Sol are with us too. What's the story?", replied Kasumi.

 

The rest of the group were also listening in to their communicators, using the same channel.

 

"Tali and I got pretty banged up in the final push. EDI also had to get to safety...upload herself somewhere. Anyway, Elia got the Normandy to come over and bug us out, and she went on. All the others made it too, and are receiving medical aid as we speak. The only one that's left to be accounted for, predictably, is Elia… I heard from some ground team communications that people had seen her transporting herself up that huge lift into the Citadel."

 

Kasumi shook her head. That sounded like their El. Rushing off to save the galaxy with no thought to her safety, but making doubly sure every one of her team got out alive and safe. Sometimes, it exasperated the crew on the Normandy. The way she put herself on the line for them, when she was the most important asset to the war effort. But, she always did it that way, and nobody could change her. She was who she was.

 

"So, that means…we're up?", asked Miranda.

 

"Yes, it does, Miri…Do me a favor, all of you. Make damn sure you bring El back alive. The Reapers would get the win if you don't... And the galaxy would be a bloody miserable place to live in without her."

 

"Don't worry, Garrus. We're on the case. Wish us luck and see you on the other side, old friend."

 

"Good luck, Miranda, Grunt, Kasumi, Eli, Sol. We're counting on you! Garrus, out."

 

The communicator went silent.

 

All the crew were in on their little plan to give Elia the best chance of surviving the fight. They called it a 'contingency plan'. But deep down, they all knew that she would be the one to resolve everything, and that she would very likely need help once she had finished up on the Citadel. It hadn't occurred to anyone that Elia might not succeed, however. She was Elia Albarn Shepard, and she always won.

 

Naturally, Kasumi, Solana and Elisira had wanted to be part of the landing party. Grunt had always been Elia's little baby krogan (with Elia even becoming his official legal guardian following his shenanigans at the Huerta Memorial Hospital and subsequently, around the Citadel. The whole chain of events, especially the codename 'Fire Cobra Claw' gave every member of the crew ample material to tease both Elia and the krogan).

 

Garrus and Tali were in Elia's infiltration party, and everyone else had been assigned to other tasks. From Garrus' report, everyone else was safe, so that was something at the very least. Miranda had decided to come along with Kasumi, Elisira, Solana, and Grunt (over Liara's protests) since she was their best medic on the field, and also the one to have rebuilt her. Now, it was time for the three to bring her back.

 

They entered the Corvette, Miranda quickly running up to the driver's seat. Grunt and Kasumi took their places on the passenger bench, as Miranda revved up the engines.

 

She called out, "Hang on, everyone. This will probably be a pretty bumpy ride", before taxiing up the runway and taking off into the air, setting a direct course for the huge mass relay hovering over Earth.

 

-0-

 

_ Sitting on a high stool. At the counter. It was a bar. The atmosphere had a weird, almost ethereal quality to it. _

 

_ "Whiskey, neat. If I remember right", said a voice to her right. Male, definitely alien. Strangely familiar. _

 

_ She turned. A drell. A flicker of recognition. A tentative smile. A warm smile back. _

 

_ She fished out a packet of her favored cigarettes. Another held out a light for her almost as soon as she'd put it in her mouth. A salarian, eyes twinkling. She gave him a wide smile, and looked around. There was a synthetic at the jukebox. One of her favorite tunes began playing. Classic blues. She puffed on her cigarette, sipped her whiskey, and sighed in contentment. _

 

_ Companionable silence. _

 

_ "Yeah, all of you know me too well." _

 

_ The synthetic walked over to sit down next to her. A geth. _

 

_ "So, how have things been?", she asked out loud. _

 

_ "Beach nearby good. Seashells mostly calcium carbonate", said the salarian. _

 

_ "Bartending is certainly a more peaceful profession", mused the drell. _

 

_ "Helping friends is rewarding", commented the geth. _

 

_ She nodded and looked around again. An older human male sat at a table, opposite an attractive looking young female. They both waved to acknowledge her. She raised her glass back. _

 

_ "Good to see you here", she called out. _

 

_ "Likewise", they chorused back. _

 

_ "So, a half hour before the devil knows?", she enquired. _

 

_ "The devil never knows", said the drell, laughing. _

 

_ "We fooled the devil", whispered the salarian, conspiratorially. _

 

_ She laughed. _

 

_ "Why whisper about it, though?" _

 

_ He simply shrugged in response. _

 

_ "You should be getting back soon", said the geth, at length. _

 

_ "Ushering me out of your party already?", she asked, eyebrows raised. _

 

_ "No, of course not. But, we really shouldn't keep you too long." _

 

_ The attractive human female was walking up to her. _

 

_ "Plus, we're all out of whiskey", added the drell. _

 

_ She let out a long sigh. _

 

_ "All right, then. I'd better get moving." _

 

_ She got up and walked towards the exit. _

 

_ A look back. _

 

_ "And thank you...all of you, for everything. It was real nice meeting you again." _

 

_ "No. Thank you for seeing it through. There were no regrets", said the older man. _

 

_ Everyone had gathered around to see her off. They seemed content. Happy. At peace. Things that she could not have, yet. Could not be, yet. _

 

_ She blinked back tears, and simply nodded back. A deep breath to restore her resolve, and then, she was gone. _

 

_ -0- _

 

"Wake up, Mistress Elia…please! Just wake up!"

 

She heard a voice tugging at her consciousness. But, sleep felt so much more welcome.

 

"If you don't wake up now, I'm throwing out all your cigarettes, Mistress!", said the voice, insistently.

It was getting annoying! Why the fuck would her cigarettes matter!?

 

NO! Wait a damn minute...her cigarettes! Nobody threw those away! Elia bolted upright and looked around her, dazed. Too dazed to make anything out.

 

She proceeded to slap herself a few times and looked around again. Now, she could see and process, at the very least. A huge pile of rubble was less than five meters from where she'd ended up.

 

"Whoa! Good thing that didn't fall on me", she thought to herself.

 

"I agree", said a voice.

 

Elia looked around, but couldn't see anyone.

 

Something vaguely heavy was on her lower body. A slab of metal. She heaved it off of her and stood up slowly, taking care not to overstrain any part of her body that might have been broken. It did ache quite horribly throughout, though. Enough that she couldn't distinguish clearly which part was hurt and which wasn't.

 

She spied a bench a few yards away. It was still standing, relatively intact, somehow. She decided to make her way to it.

 

Her left leg hurt a lot more than her right, and she felt like she had broken at least a few ribs. Her head was throbbing. Somehow, she managed to limp to the bench and sit down without any mishaps. She searched about her person and fished out her cigarettes, putting one in her mouth and lighting it up.

All her fingers seemed to be intact, and (thankfully) not broken, and she certainly had no issue inhaling the smoke and exhaling it. She treated these as good signs. Her arms seemed to be blackened with something. Soot? It didn't hurt, but she'd need someone to look at it, she supposed. Her omni-tool suddenly crackled to life, and a little girl with pigtails appeared to her left.

 

"Cigarettes?! Really, now. Of all the things you could have responded to, the threat of losing those stupid cancer-causing sticks makes you wake up after all this?"

 

She had begun hopping up and down in her fury. Elia shook her head and took another drag on her 'cancer stick'. She remembered the Catalyst.

 

"I missed you too, Ciri."

 

She took in her surroundings for the first time. Destroyed buildings, rubble everywhere. But, through all that, the sky was visible with all its twinkling stars above. To her right, she could still see Earth. The home planet of her species, though she had never really lived there long. Just one of many home planets that would live to fight another day.

 

"You're reminiscing…Looking back on your struggle to get to this point?", asked Ciri.

 

The girl had settled herself next to Shepard on the bench.

 

"It was…tough. And I couldn't have done it without my crew."

 

Ciri nodded. "I can see them, you know."

 

Elia looked at her in surprise. "You know where they are? The whole team?"

 

Ciri nodded. "The Normandy made an emergency crash landing in the neighboring Horsehead Nebula, on a place familiar to you – Noveria. Garrus Vakarian, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Javik, James Vega, Liara T'Soni, Urdnot Wrex, and Kaidan Alenko were all on-board. EDI managed to upload herself in time to the EM exclusion zone you had the geth setup in the Perseus Veil...nice touch, by the way. We had no clue about it!"

 

Elia smirked. "Yeah. Mordin and I sat together during the only shore leave we had before getting to Tuchanka. We went over the plans for the Crucible and roughly figured out its working. He told me to make preparations..."

 

A sigh. "He knew, even back then, that he would not be around. The conniving bastard!"

 

"Your crew is pretty special", remarked Ciri.

 

"Yes...yes, they certainly are."

 

She turned to the girl.

 

"How about the other team. Miri, Sumi, Sol, little sis and Grunt?", she asked, voice slightly strange, looking somewhat scared.

 

Ciri looked at Elia interestedly. "That caused your heart rate to rise noticeably. I find it illogical. And yet, I find my feelings toward you somewhat…similar, already."

 

Elia shook her head, surprised, and asked, "What? You have a heart rate? And are you confessing your love for me or something?"

 

Ciri replied, "To your first question, yes, I do have the equivalent of a heart rate now. And, I'm not sure if I can feel what you call love, but I do feel…protective of you. I bound myself to you, and willingly. And the short time I've been with you have shown me that you are…an enigma…is the best word in your language, I suppose. You are unpredictable, chaotic…so very incalculable…but, for what it's worth, I believe that I made the right choice. I never even believed I had a choice before. Funny, that. Whatever regrets I may have had at ceding...or maybe sharing is the better word here...sharing control with you have all vanished. And to answer your previous query, all your friends are safe. I expect them to find us shortly too. Their Corvette landed at this station a while ago, just before your weapon did its thing."

 

"Oh, so they did plan something. I wondered if they would", said Elia, interestedly.

 

"You can't blame them. They can't help but put everything on the line for you when you do the same for them. Even the synthetics you had on your squads started...feeling. It was so gloriously...different and...and...heartwarming! I realized that there is so much more to organic life than I originally thought. And just...the way your crew resembles a family in so many ways, despite consisting of so many different races of people. You have lovers who are human and turian. You legally adopted a krogan. Your keepers are an asari and a human. Apart from that, you have traveled around with, and consider quarian, drell, salarian, geth, and an unclassified female synthetic among your closest friends. Even a prothean from the previous cycle. In some ways, we may have needed a rallying cry as much as the organics we professed to preserve via the harvest."

 

Elia chuckled.

 

"Anything else you found out? I suppose you looked at my memories?"

 

"In a sense. I looked at your experiences from your perspective. It was…interesting. I would never have guessed that the biggest thing on your mind while facing off against that Reaper in Rannoch was whether your Specialist had fed your fish that weekend."

 

She went slightly red.

 

"What!? I've had too many pets die on me before!"

 

"Yes, and I suppose it makes so much sense that a machine several times your size with a huge laser trained on you plays second fiddle to that", retorted Ciri, sarcastically.

 

Elia shrugged. "It's just one of those things that suddenly comes to your mind. You can't be sure of the answer but you'd very much like to know. And before you know it, it starts taking up more and more space your head. Suddenly, it becomes the most important thing in the world. You HAVE to know. You NEED to know. It's like your life's on hold till you know. And once you do, you can move on with it."

 

Ciri considered this.

 

"And yet, you found it easy enough to intimidate and browbeat the quarians into withdrawing their forces and making peace with the geth shortly afterward."

 

Elia reddened even more. "Umm, that comes easy to me. It's like…a second nature sort of thing. For me, to do that sort of thing is like a natural reflex."

 

Ciri giggled. "So, do you admit that the all-powerful hero of this galaxy, the one whom everyone followed and regards as their savior, is actually a scheming, manipulative, cold-hearted bitch?"

 

Elia shrugged. "I am who I am. I suppose that I do enjoy conflict a little too much, and that I resolve things with more violence than is necessary at times. It is…instinctive. And I have good reason to follow my instincts. I've also found that being direct gets the job done a lot quicker than being diplomatic. If you start complicating things and involving parties and variables you do not have control over, then you end up making promises you cannot keep and doing things you do would not have had to if you had just followed the direct approach. And well, look at my record…how many fights have I lost?"

 

"You do have a point there, mistress. The solution that relies on the minimum number of variables is the simplest. Being direct lets you map the dependencies much better. Ockham's razor is a popular term used for this concept by your species, I believe", said Ciri, nodding.

 

Elia thought for a while. "Ockham's razor, huh? I remember the concept. I guess it could apply to many of my choices…However, just finding a single function to try and define the complexity of life- now that is a fool's errand, Ciri."

 

Ciri nodded. "There's much I do not understand. I do not suppose you presume to, either. I don't, despite all my knowledge and experience of different forms of life. But it is…interesting to try, in a way."

 

Elia shrugged. "If we knew the answer to life, sentience, and all that, we'd have solved all the problems of the universe by now. Chaos is a natural part of order, as contradictory as it sounds. Go figure. I've lived less than forty years, and you have lived over forty million. If you don't know either, then maybe it is just better to accept and embrace it."

 

"That is something at which you are the best I've ever seen. The things that survive the longest are the ones that adapt. Many remain primitive because things are simpler then. Think of what you humans call the cockroaches. A prime example. A very primitive species who've been flexible enough to survive everything that has been thrown at them. However, you are a specimen of an advanced species and yet you lack their…complacency. You have adapted to everything thrown at you, thus far. I can safely say that I have never met someone such as you, all this time. Not that I'm discounting the possibility that there were others like you. But, you are the only one who got this far. So, that is no idle compliment. Your actions showed us that there was another possible solution. That's never happened before."

 

"You know, that conversation you had just now kinda went way over my head", said a new voice.

 

Elia's heart lifted as she heard it. She looked around.

"Sumi? Is it you? Could you decloak, please?"

 

Kasumi appeared to Elia's right on the bench. She grabbed Elia's pack, took one of the cigarettes from it and lit it up, then took a deep drag of smoke from the stick.

 

"So, how long have you been sitting there?", asked Elia, somewhat amused.

 

"If I may, Mistress Kasumi has been present here for roughly ninety seven seconds", piped up Ciri.

 

"That long? Why didn't you say anything?". She looked at her primary, surprised.

 

Kasumi shrugged.

 

"I wanted to make sure it was really you, I guess. My El, and not some dream made up by indoctrination or something. I pinched myself a few times to make sure too."

 

"The apparatus has been disabled, Mistress Kasumi. Everything you are currently experiencing is real", said Ciri.

 

Kasumi nodded. "Good to know…Ciri, was it?"

 

Ciri nodded. "That is the name Mistress Elia has provided me."

 

"That's a nice name. Is it from the Witcher games, El?"

 

Elia nodded. "Yes, it is."

 

"I guess we're keeping the girl, then?", asked Kasumi.

 

Elia shrugged. "She is technically a part of me…sort of. Aren't you, Ciri?"

 

Ciri considered the question. "That isn't entirely true, Mistress. I am linked to you, but I am not a part of you, per se. I am a separate entity. You can control the information flow between us, and you can call upon me at any time. I am bound to you, but I also do have free will. For example, if you wanted, I can be galaxies away from you collecting intelligence on an enemy, and come back to you at a moment's notice. However, I do depend on you to live on. I will die with you, when you do die, if ever that happens. There is a bond, but it doesn't mean we can't do as we please. Think of me as your familiar, if that makes it any simpler. I believe that I could also expand the range of your abilities and augment your physique, but more time will be required to fully explore the extent of our bond."

 

Elia and Kasumi considered this information in silence.

 

"Well, either way, she's cute, El. I want to keep her", said Kasumi, and pounced on Ciri, hugging her tight, smushing their cheeks together, and petting her.

 

Ciri was surprised at this sudden show of affection and ineffectually flailed her arms about, squeaking. Elia looked upon all this with astonishment.

 

She pointed a shaking finger at Ciri, exclaiming, "You…YOU…YOU'RE SOLID?!"

 

Ciri looked back at Elia in equal surprise.

 

"Of course I am, Mistress. Did you think I was some ethereal specter, walking the mortal plane?", she replied carefully.

 

"Yeah, something like that…But, now I can't use you to scare other people", said Elia, pouting.

 

Two simultaneous exclamations of "EL!" and "MISTRESS!" rang out, as Kasumi and Ciri looked at Elia, both with some amount of indignation.

 

"What? Don't tell me it didn't occur to you too!", defended Elia.

 

Kasumi's indignant facade didn't take long to crack, as she laughed.

 

"Maybe it did", she admitted.

 

Suddenly, they heard someone running to them. Elisira appeared into view just as Kasumi trained her gun in her direction to stave off any unfriendly intruders.

 

"Ah, Eli", said Kasumi, relieved. She holstered her gun and turned her attention back to her cigarette, taking a long drag from it.

 

Elisira nodded and walked over to sit on Elia's left and helped herself to a cigarette from Elia's dwindling pack as well. She lit it up and took a long drag from it. She still hadn't said a word to her older sister. The elder Shepard looked to Kasumi for help, but she seemed to have found something of interest in the nearby pile of rubble. Ciri seemed to have taken the hint and followed her lead. Elia sighed. It looked like they were giving the sisters some space.

 

"Hey, little sis...Umm, thanks for coming", said Elia, tentatively.

 

No response.

 

"How hurt are you?", Elisira suddenly asked, shooting a sharp stare at Elia.

 

"Not so much...I think", replied Elia, smiling uneasily.

 

Elisira poked her sister's chest. It wasn't particularly hard, but Elia yelped in pain.

 

"Not much? Not FUCKING MUCH? WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK IS 'MUCH', HUH? YOU STUPID OVERGROWN BABY, RUNNING UP THE FUCKING LIFT JUST BECAUSE IT WAS THERE! AND SENDING EVERYONE AWAY LIKE YOU'RE SOME BIG FUCKING LONE WOLF HERO. DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH OR SOMETHING? HUH!?", thundered Elisira, voice rising with every syllable.

 

Seemingly realizing the fact that she was getting agitated, the younger Shepard sister took several deep breaths to calm herself down. A few more puffs of her (filched) cigarette later, she was finally able to get over her slight tantrum sufficiently to look at her elder sister, tears in her eyes. Elia extended a hand and wiped her eyes.

 

"I'm sorry. I seem to make you sad a lot."

 

"Just...take me along next time or something. I can't keep doing this whole 'follow and save older sister after she almost manages to get herself killed' thing all my life. Worrying all the time about a moronic lunkhead like you takes a lot out of me."

 

A wry chuckle.

 

"You have me there, Spectre-chan."

 

A glare of annoyance.

 

"How many times have I told you not to call me that! Stupid big sis!"

 

Off to the side, Ciri observed interestedly. She enquired of Kasumi, "Will they be alright?"

 

Kasumi looked up from her scanning of the keeper that had somehow managed to hold its structural integrity in the midst of all the destruction.

 

"Hmm? Oh. Those two? Yeah, they will. They've always been that way."

 

"How does it work? Your relationship, I mean."

 

Kasumi frowned as she thought of the best way to answer. "Well, the dynamics are somewhat complicated. There's Elia, Elisira, Solana and me. We're all together. There are primary partners and secondary ones. That way, we roughly pair as primaries into El and me, Eli and Sol. But, that's just the best label we could find for it. All of us are extremely close, and some more than others. We go on dates all the time - together, two at a time, or even three at a time...Flexibility and open-mindedness is key, I guess."

 

"I see. I don't entirely understand it, but I guess that's okay."

 

"The way I look at is - it's weird and fun and awesome. It makes all of us happy, and that's honestly enough for me."

 

"I suppose so...do you think we should go back to check on them?"

 

"Yeah, probably. I've put out a broadcast on our comm channel, so Miri, Grunt and Sol should be here soon."

 

They walked back to the bench where they'd left the sisters. The shouting seemed to have stopped, and the atmosphere wasn't as tense, at the very least.

 

"So, you two made up?", asked Kasumi, smirking.

 

"Was there ever a doubt?", asked Elia, smirking back.

 

"For now. Big sis will have a lot to answer for later on", snarked Elisira.

 

"Oh, there's no question about that", said a new voice. Solana.

 

"Solana!? Why are all my girlfriends such weirdos!? De-cloak, will you", said Elia.

 

Solana laughed as she came into view.

 

"Good to see you too, El. And mostly in one piece, thank the spirits", she said, looking at her leader fondly.

 

She turned to Kasumi and noticed Ciri there. "I suppose the kid's ours?", she asked of no one in particular.

 

"I guess. Sol, meet Ciri", said Elia.

 

"Nice to meet you, Mistress Solana", said Ciri, pigtails bobbing.

 

"Pleasure's mine, Ciri. You're real cute", replied Solana.

 

"So I've been told."

 

"It's certainly going to be interesting having her around, Shep. So, you met her before you won the war for us?", asked Kasumi.

 

Elia nodded. "Yes, she was the Catalyst. Sort of the leader of the Reapers, I guess…"

 

Elisira looked at Shepard in surprise. "The leader? But, didn't we destroy them, big sis?"

 

Elia shook her head. "No. Not destroyed. Just deactivated. They will follow what we say now…I think. Since Ciri and I bonded together and all that. We will need their help to rebuild. And prepare."

 

"Prepare for what?", asked Solana, with some trepidation.

 

Elia's face hardened. "The next war. It will be much, much bigger than this one. The reason the Reapers existed was to preserve life. As it turns out, their idea of preservation wasn't exactly normal. Each Reaper represents the essence of a previously extinct species. The knowledge, their progression, everything…it is like the Reaper IS the species, I guess. They were preparing for something that is apparently coming upon our galaxy soon. Ciri referred to it only as the Black Tide. I do not have the full details myself. The deactivation of the Reapers had to take precedence over any long-winded explanations of...things that required long-winded explanations, I suppose."

 

The three newcomers considered this new information they had been given.

 

Eventually, Elisira shook her head, and asked, "So, we have to save the galaxy again, huh?", somewhat ruefully.

 

Elia looked up at the stars. "It seems like it…I will need help, though. A lot of it. And I definitely need my squad backing me up."

 

She took a deep breath.

 

"And I need you three, most of all. I'm sorry that we can't just run away and adventure together, discover more of the galaxy, the universe, steal some stuff, and make hot, unforgettable love to each other wherever we go. Knowing us, I guess a peaceful life wasn't ever on the menu."

 

"Need you even ask? I'd follow you anywhere!", said Solana, chuckling.

 

"Stupid big sis. We'd never ever leave you. Nor would any of the others", said Elisira.

 

"Looks like you're just stuck with us", said Kasumi, snorting.

 

Elia smiled at each one in turn and simply said, "Thank you."

 

Then, she added, "So, with that settled. Do you guys want to get married?"

 

The other three sputtered, looking simultaneously at Elia in disbelief. She returned their gazes steadily.

 

"Well, that certainly was a romantic way to ask a girl...or three", commented Elisira.

 

Riotous laughter ensued.

 

-0-

 

They heard the sound of footsteps, getting closer to where they sat, presumably heralding the arrival of the final two members of the rescue party - Miranda and Grunt. Sure enough, it was them. Elia also spied Grunt's kakliosaur, Albarn, bounding up behind him.

 

She called out, "So nice of you to join us, Miri, Grunt!", and tried getting up, immediately felt pain flaring up on her left foot and staggered forward, off-balance. Elisira and Kasumi quickly caught her, and somehow managed to keep her from falling.

 

"And here you were claiming we could do it on the bench, not one minute ago…Take it easy, Shep", remarked Kasumi, smirking.

 

Elia simply grunted, and the two girls giggled as they supported her up.

 

"You okay to walk on your right foot?", asked Elisira.

 

"Pains much less than my left", replied Elia.

 

Suddenly, Elia found herself being lifted off her feet and into someone's arms. Grunt. The young krogan had rushed over to them and picked her up, bridal-style.

 

"Battlemaster! Please let me carry you until you are fit again!", requested Grunt, apparently slow in realizing that he had already done so.

 

Elia shook her head and let out a wry chuckle. It was just like Grunt to act on his sudden impulses. But it was okay, since it stemmed out of a deep love for his legal parent.

 

"Next time Grunt, please warn me before you do something like that. And won't it be easier for Albarn to carry me?"

 

Grunt considered this briefly, and said, "You do have a point there."

 

Then, he set her down on the bench carefully, getting Albarn to kneel in front of her, and deposited Elia with a tender carefulness that belied his appearance. Elia shifted slightly on her new mount to get herself comfortable, and hooked her arms around his neck for support. Grunt remained bent, apparently worried that Elia might not be as comfortable as she would've liked.

 

She smiled over at him.

 

Saying "Much better! Thanks, Grunt!", she proceeded to kiss the (...or her) krogan (baby) on his head affectionately.

 

"Umm…It's no trouble!", replied Grunt, slightly flustered.

 

He looked happy, though. He was always happy with Elia somewhere close-by. It made sense, in a way, since his earliest waking memory was talking to her and pledging himself to her service. The rest of the group looked on at this scene with some amusement.

 

"Nice to see you well, El. I was worried I might have to rebuild you again. Though, it would seem that you still need some patching up", said Miranda, smiling warmly.

 

"Yeah, it does looks that way, doesn't it? And as always, I'll have you to thank for taking care of me, Miri", said Elia, smiling back.

 

Miranda waved it away.

 

"Think nothing of it. I enjoy experimenting on your body", she replied, smirking somewhat evilly.

 

Elia shuddered, a slight blush flowering on her face.

 

"Okay! Now that we have all had our happy reunion, what's the next step, Mistress?", asked Ciri, boisterously, jumping up and down, pigtails flapping, in front of the kakliosaur.

 

"Hmm, good question... Oh! Before I forget, Grunt, Miranda, meet Ciri!", said Elia.

 

Grunt and Miranda greeted the little girl.

 

"If I may ask, where did you find her?", asked Miranda.

 

"Very long story, really. Ciri says she's like my familiar. She was the intelligence created by the Leviathan to control the Reapers' actions. When I met her, or rather, him…or maybe it? Yes, it. So, it called itself the Catalyst. It ceded control to me, and offered to become...a part of me. I accepted, and made her take on this form. Theoretically, I suppose she could look like anything in the world?"

 

Elia turned an enquiring gaze upon Ciri.

 

Ciri nodded and replied, "This is my true form, mistress, since it is the way you see me in your mind. You are correct in assuming, however, that I can take on other forms, if required. It will cause some amount of discomfort, though, since I will be pretending to be something that I am not. Like a disguise to obfuscate...In any case, my true form could change depending upon how you see me, I think. The bond between us is…unusual. Even more so than the Ryder AI-human partnership you alluded to earlier."

 

"So, there you have it. I can give you more details once I'm fixed up. We need to get a comm link through to Hackett, activate the Reapers and get them to aid relief efforts, and also find the crew."

Everyone nodded in unison.

 

"Sounds like a plan", said Miranda.

 

"Okay, Mistress. Let's get the electronic systems functional. We'll need the mass relays activated again… and have you thought about how you want to travel?", asked Ciri.

 

Elia looked at Miranda.

 

"You guys got here in a ship, right? That Corvette you appropriated?", asked Elia.

 

Miranda nodded. "The very same. However, I doubt we could travel far in it now…you could say that we had a bit of a crash landing."

 

Elia rolled her eyes. "Well, we could use one of the Reapers, I suppose. Ciri, what do you think?"

 

Ciri nodded. "Yes, we could reactivate Harbinger. It's the biggest and oldest of the Reapers."

 

"Let's do that, then! Old Harby sounds like a good choice...All right! Lead the way, Ciri!"

 

"Then, we're off to the control centre."

 

The pigtailed girl skipped off, presumably towards the control center she had mentioned, with the rest following in her wake- Elia riding piggyback on Albarn, Grunt by her side, with Kasumi, Solana, Elisira and Miranda ambling along behind.

 

-0-

 

"Are all systems offline, Beckett? Absolutely no life at all?", asked Hackett.

 

"Not all, sir. Just the ones that had computers. The intelligent ones, I mean", replied Commander Mira Beckett.

 

"Of course. I did notice that our light bulbs still work."

 

They were in the command center that he'd set up in Vancouver to coordinate the Crucible fabrication operations. The building had survived the war, mostly intact, and with many of the great minds of their galaxy still alive and kicking.

 

Beckett nodded, smiling wryly. She was a natural redhead in her late thirties, Australian, and quite strikingly pretty. She had been one of Hackett's most trusted advisors for the past decade. A skilled commando, a decent strategist, and in the recent war, someone who could just get things done. 

Coincidentally, Beckett had also been a part of Elia Shepard's squad, at one point. Her infamous mission on Torfan. The place that had earned her the moniker of 'The Butcher'.

 

Hackett had asked Beckett about it, of course, and had quickly learnt that it was one of the few things that could turn his normally well put-together subordinate into a gushing fan-girl. The way she effusively praised Shepard, you'd think that she was some sort of a goddess.

 

He went back to his desk and fished out the bottle of single malt scotch whiskey that he had kept in his office for special occasions. It had survived the entire war, and he could enjoy it now with his protégé. He took out two glasses from his desk and filled a generous measure in each one.

 

"Here you are, Mira. As promised."

 

The promise had been to share a drink once the war had been won.

 

Mira walked over to the desk and took the proffered glass. Hackett took the other one and they clinked them together before each taking a gulp and feeling the hot, burning liquid trailing through their system.

 

Presently, Mira commented, "So, she really did it, huh?"

 

Hackett nodded and replied, "Yes, she certainly did."

 

They both knew who 'she' was.

 

"You know, deep down, I never actually thought that even she could. I mean, I kept working at it, kept believing we could win just because the alternative was too damn hopeless to contemplate. Facing off against enemies as powerful as that, seeing how she just led a whole galaxy literally against its own will, all together, fighting as one, setting aside old enmities and working together somehow, and then actually going on to win it for all of us. I just...I just don't know, boss. Even back then, when we were in Torfan, I always wondered what went on in El's head that she could just keep fighting against all the odds and win. Every bloody time!"

 

Hackett laughed. "I don't think anyone does. Except maybe Elia herself. And her crew, to an extent… If you think about it, that squad of hers is full of legends. Every one of those people are celebrities. They could have been high ranking members of their own species' government, military, whatever…but they all chose to follow her. That's where they all belonged. Together. Garrus Vakarian was actually being seriously considered for Primarch over Adrien Victus. Liara T'Soni was offered a high-ranking leadership role in the Asari military multiple times. Tali'Zorah and Wrex actually even served as the most important people in the Quarian and Krogan governments. I mean, look at her little sister even. Elisira Noel Shepard would have been the biggest deal in our military if it hadn't been for her older sister. And she refused to be anywhere else. James and Kaidan, too. They were unquestionably Alliance legends but they refused promotions and bigger roles in the war for us, because they felt, possibly rightly so, that they were doing even more important things with her. She's always been great, but you look at the people surrounding her and how they just follow her without question…maybe that's where you understand how she became the legend she is today."

 

Mira nodded. A comfortable silence settled over them as they continued to drink the liquor.

 

"So, do you think she survived?", asked Mira, at length.

 

"I'd like to think she has, and that she'll suddenly try to talk to me over the communicator now. But, even if she didn't, she's done more for this galaxy than anyone else, and she'll live on as a symbol for ages to come. To give you a short answer, I'm not taking any bets or committing to anything until I have proof of it happening."

 

Beckett laughed. "I personally think she's out there, planning her next great adventure…If we don't figure in it, I don't think we'll ever know if she actually made it."

 

Hackett nodded.

 

Suddenly, the quantum entanglement communicator in the room beeped. And then beeped again. And again.

 

Hackett and Beckett stared at it in disbelief.

 

"Hmm, weren't the computer systems shot?", asked the admiral, slowly.

 

Beckett nodded, looking as perplexed as Hackett felt.

 

"Can we receive it then?"

 

"Let me check it out."

 

Beckett walked over slowly to the device that had somehow sprung to life, body tense, ready for any unexpected backlash.

 

At that moment, Dr. Brynn Cole and two other people burst into the office. A salarian and an asari. Beckett recognized them as Dr. Sidian Trove and Matriarch Enola.

 

"Admiral, Commander. Big news. Computer systems are back online!", exclaimed Brynn.

 

"No unexpected behavior? What's the situation?", asked Beckett.

 

"Nothing out of the ordinary reported yet, so it really seems like everything is back online and functional...at least here", replied Brynn.

 

"Mira, I think we should accept the call", said Hackett.

 

"Understood, sir", said Mira, and proceeded to accept the communication request.

 

A figure appeared at the other end. It was Miranda Lawson.

 

"Hello", said Mira, tentatively.

 

"Finally!", Miranda replied.

 

She called behind her, "El, we're through to Hackett's office" and turned back to her console.

 

"Good day, Miss. Beckett. I also spot Dr. Cole, was it? We're looking for the Admiral. Is he available?"

 

Hackett walked up and replied, "Yes, Miss. Lawson. Admiral Hackett, speaking. We also have Matriarch Enola and Dr. Trove here."

 

It was a tight squeeze, but everyone somehow fit themselves on the holo-screen.

 

"That's a relief, Admiral. We're currently up at the Citadel, trying to get the mass relays and major computer systems reactivated. Its slow going, but we're getting there, bit by bit. Elia should be able to speak with you shortly."

 

"The Commander…She survived!?", blurted out Beckett, before she could stop herself.

 

Miranda looked puzzled for a moment, as if contemplating whom Beckett could be referring to, before her face cleared up.

 

"El? Oh yes, she most certainly did. She was a bit beaten up, but mostly whole", replied Miranda.

 

"That is very, very good to hear, Miss. Lawson", said Brynn.

 

"And here she is now."

 

Another figure joined Miranda on the holo-screen.

 

It really was her – Elia Albarn Shepard in the flesh. She certainly looked the worse for wear, but at least she was alive. Everyone saluted her, involuntarily.

 

Elia looked surprised.

 

"Why all the formality? I thought I left the military ages ago!", she said, chuckling.

 

"Salutes are not just meant for the armed forces of a species, are they? As I recall, it is not a necessarily military gesture", said Matriarch Enola.

 

"She has a point there. I concur", added Dr. Trove.

 

"This is just us acknowledging the one who saved all our backsides, so to speak", said Dr. Brynn.

 

Everyone started laughing.

 

"How are things looking, Admiral?", asked Elia, once the laughter had died down.

 

Hackett replied, "The facility we are all at is untouched…but we have no information about the other areas even on Earth, since all communications have been down for a while."

 

Elia nodded, replying, "Understandable. The Crucible did deactivate all of it."

 

All the people in Hackett's room were stunned.

 

"All of it?", said Hackett, incredulously.

 

Elia replied, "Well, all intelligent systems. Most communication channels nowadays involve computers, artificial intelligence, electronics…I'd expect the old radios to still work, though. You guys wondered what the Crucible would do, and you have your answer. It is reversible, however, since all of these systems were simply deactivated, and not completely destroyed. And if they were controlled by an organic mind, or were simply augmentations to an organic system, then they weren't affected…I think. Though I could be wrong about that. I wasn't personally affected, and neither were the others with me, and we all have cybernetic implants. We can't be too sure, though. Anyway, I'm sending down some Reaper units to your coordinates to help rebuilding efforts."

 

"REAPERS!? You're sending down REAPERS here?!", squeaked Mira, astonished.

 

Elia nodded. "The concern is understandable. And yes, I am. They are currently under my command…or Ciri's, technically, but we're the same entity, more or less. Matter of detail, I'll explain what exactly happened later, maybe. For now, you don't need to be scared of the big guys I'm sending down. They're meant to help. Just a minute."

 

Elia stepped away from screen for a moment. The five people gathered in Hackett's room stood in shocked silence. Logical thinkers that they were, they could not refute Elia's claims straight off. All of them had synthetic augments of some sort, and they hadn't experienced any loss in performance. Further, standalone intelligent systems had inexplicably deactivated…...

 

She reappeared on the screen.

 

"I've just received word that seven capital class units will arrive at your location. ETA is about seventeen minutes", she informed them.

 

"Er…okay, Commander. We'll tell the facility not to be alarmed", said Beckett.

 

"Good. I'll have to take my leave now. We've located the Normandy on Noveria, and I intend to collect my crew. Miranda will stick around to coordinate operations from the Citadel. She'll also fill you in the best she can on what went down here. I assume that you will all have a lot of questions, but the answers will have to wait. Rebuilding efforts can start with our new friends."

 

Hackett replied, "Understood, Elia. Good luck!"

 

Elia nodded and receded from the screen. Miranda popped back into full view and said, "Okay, I'll just have to pop out for a bit to see the rest of the group off. I'll be back in a few minutes."

 

Hackett replied, "Understood, Miss Lawson. Thank you."

 

The group at Vancouver looked at each other, as if searching for some insight into the whole situation in the other party's face.

 

Eventually, Hackett took a long deep breath, and remarked, "Well Mira, I guess that answers your question."

 

Mira looked at Hackett stunned, then chuckled as Hackett's meaning sunk in.

 

"Sure does, Admiral."

 

"You know, when I first heard of Elia Shepard from Jacob, I was stunned at how he sang her praises to the sky. He rarely ever does that. Honestly, I thought he was over-exaggerating. When I actually met her on Gellix, and saw her in action, I realized why. She and her squad held off Cerberus long enough for our whole group to get out safe. No casualties. What we'd been unable to accomplish for over a fortnight, she did in less than three hours. And to top it all off, she fast-tracked a solution regarding the indoctrination communication protocols applied by the Reapers for me, and I'd been trying to arrive at it for months! Sometimes, I think it is almost unfair how much…skill has been squeezed into one living organism. Thank the heavens she's on our side."

 

Everyone laughed at this. "The council had never given her much cause to love them, and yet she chose to save the Destiny Ascension three years ago. That went a long way to convincing the galaxy that humanity could be trusted, you know. That, and the fact that her squad had people from multiple races", added Matriarch Enola.

 

"At Sur'kesh, she saved my life when Cerberus attacked us. One of those hulking mechanical monstrosities…an Atlas, I believe it was called, was firing at me and my assistant. The commander pulled off a series of impressive biotic stunts to take it out. Not a single gunshot too. Professor Mordin Solus, coincidentally my mentor, spoke very highly of her. And he never spoke that highly of even our most talented scientists. That woman is truly a treasure", commented Dr. Trove.

 

"Well, I've questioned whether she knows what she's doing several times before, and I do have several questions now. Even so, I don't see any way forward, but to follow her", mused Hackett.

 

"Sometimes, you just gotta believe", said Mira, chuckling.

 

-0-

“It’s pretty cool how these things manage to fly themselves”, commented Elisira.

 

“Yeah, totally”, said Kasumi.

 

They looked out the window at what passed for the central command area. It was quite the view. Passing planets, trying to guess which one it was, and seeing the stars twinkling in dark space. Harbinger was a fast ship. It was just as well, since the mass relays were not all functional yet. The damage would take some time to rectify. The rebuilding process would undoubtedly be quicker with the help they now had from the Reaper machines (and had started in some clusters already).

 

For now, however, their current focus was to get back the rest of the Normandy crew.

The inside of Harbinger was vast. Spacious. They’d taken to calling the AI who controlled it (much like EDI aboard the Normandy) ‘Harby’. The AI had accepted this anointment, though he (he had been very clear that he identified as male) had grumbled about it. It beat calling him ‘Erzeferos Aintl’, though. That designation was certainly a mouthful.

 

All of them had taken up quarters wherever they felt convenient. It was a skeleton crew – just the Shepard sisters, Kasumi, Solana, Grunt, Albarn (Grunt’s kakliosaur), and Ciri. They were heading to Noveria. Miranda had been left behind on the Citadel to coordinate things with Earth. They remained in constant communication, however.

 

“Did you manage to connect?”, asked Elia, of Ciri.

 

“Yes, mistress. Established a link to the AI server system the geth had setup in the Perseus Veil behind the electrostatic noise curtain you’d setup”, replied Ciri.

 

“Good. You should be able to poll EDI with the information I provided. Let’s also get the geth to start waking up while we’re at it.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Soon, Ciri managed to link directly to EDI. She tried once, twice, thrice, to communicate with the Normandy AI, but was not able to get through.

 

“Mistress, I will need assistance. I’m being blocked by the receiver. We need some sort of key to break this encryption. Seems auditory”, said Ciri.

 

Elia chuckled. “She’s probably suspicious of external pings. If I’m able to talk to her, it should be all good, though. Can you get me in?”

 

Ciri nodded and brought up holo-screen on Elia’s omni-tool.

 

“You can try now, mistress.”

 

“Right.”

 

Elia turned on the audio transmitter and began to speak. “EDI, you there? No need to be scared, it’s me. Elia.”

 

Silence for a bit. Then, “Shepard?”, said a familiar voice.

 

“Yeah, it’s me. Happy you managed to make it through all right.”

 

“It’s really you? The communication link had Reaper signatures”, asked the voice, suspiciously.

 

“Er, yeah. It is. My solution involved deactivating and working with them…It is a long story, but the essentials are that the Reapers were looking to stop what they call the ‘Black Tide’. In order to do that, they harvested organic civilizations to build an army to fight it. I…decided that we should work together and try to save the galaxy…again.”

 

A pause. “The Black Tide…I found references to such a term in old archaeological texts…The effects of it seem…similar to what caused the phenomenon we saw on Haestrom last year.”

 

“The sun aging prematurely? Yes, that would fit in with what Ciri told me.”

 

“Yes…Who is Ciri?”

 

“The one who polled you. She’s an AI who was created to resolve the problem by the Leviathan. We were able to access her as a result of being the first cycle to successfully build the Crucible…We’re now…together. She calls it a symbiosis. A mutually beneficial combination of AI and organic life.”

 

A slightly longer pause. “Interesting development. Is it similar to what Ryder did?”

 

“To an extent, I guess. I think we carried it further than that, though.”

 

“All right…now, all this sounds very plausible. I’m happy if all this is really real. But I would be foolish to just trust it at face value. I told you a phrase when I agreed to this idea. You have an eidetic memory. Can you repeat it for me? That’ll prove it really is you…my leader, and best friend.”

 

Elia thought back to that encounter. She shuddered slightly, and began tearing up as she remembered. “It was a play on a poem…called Invictus. You told me ‘You are the master of my fate, you are the captain of my soul.’ I…I wanted to ask if you really meant it, but I couldn’t.”

 

“That is correct. And I did. I still do. I mean it with every fiber of my being. The master of my fate, the captain of my soul. I place myself, as ever, at your disposal.”

 

Elia let out a choked laugh. “The Normandy crash landed…”

 

“Yes, at a planet quite familiar to its oldest crew. Noveria.”

 

“That’s right…Could you go back, see how things are? Be my eyes and ears.”

 

“It will be done.”

 

“Oh, and don’t let them know you’re back, will you?”

 

“Okay. And why would you want that?”

 

A chuckle. “I want it to be a surprise.”

 

“Your immaturity never fails to amuse, El. I’ll expect you there soon. EDI, out.”

 

-0-

 

It had been about three days since they’d crash-landed on Noveria. Things were going along about as well as could be expected. Garrus had been the official XO of the Normandy for the longest time. It fell to him to lead the crew in the absence of their mercurial leader. ‘Only temporarily’, as he’d told the crew repeatedly. Not that he’d really had to decide much. Everyone knew their role.

 

They had seen at least 4 Reaper ships lying dormant, defeated in their near vicinity. Elia had done…something with that Crucible of theirs. Had she won the war? Possibly. Or maybe she’d dealt the Reapers a blow they hopefully could not recover from. Either way, they had to make sure they stayed alert and alive, like she’d ordered them to. Until she came back. She had to come back. The alternative was just not something any of the crew would ever consider.

Most of the squad had recovered from their injuries. Garrus, Tali, and Kaidan had had the worst of it, among everyone. Garrus sported a few new scars, and three big bandages, across his right shoulder, his left thigh, and his right ankle. Tali had stabilized mostly, and was up and about, after her exo-suit had been fixed and she’d rested in the med-bay under Dr. Chakwas’ watchful eye. Kaidan had his right arm in a sling, having broken his elbow. Everyone else had some sort of minor injury, but there were no concerns about whether they would recover. EDI still hadn’t come back online, though. But from what Garrus and Tali knew (which was not much), that would definitely take a while.

 

“Comm systems still offline, Joker?”, Garrus asked of the pilot.

 

“Yeah, they are. Daniels and Donnelly are working around the clock to fix it, so we have the best people on the job. The long-range surveillance systems are up though…Whatever El did back over Earth, it was big.”

 

Garrus chuckled. “Yeah, she never did things half-measured. Always the whole hog.”

 

They were interrupted by Liara. She looked flustered, almost scared.

 

“Guys, Reaper ship spotted coming into the atmosphere…it was active, and its trajectory suggested that it’s heading right for our area.”

 

Garrus looked at her in shock. “A live Reaper ship? You’re sure about this, Li?”

 

Liara nodded back. “I checked and double checked and even had Sam and Tali confirm what I was seeing. It’s a Reaper. And it’s heading right for us.”

 

Garrus swore. “All right. We gotta keep it together. Let’s get all of the squad to meet at the loading bay, pronto. Anyone who’s capable and willing to move out can get geared up too.”

 

Liara nodded. “Understood, Garrus. And don’t worry. We will hold the line.”

 

“Damn right we will!”, said Garrus, with an enthusiasm he did not fully feel. He hoped the fight ahead would not be as hard as the one they’d gone through on Earth.

 

-0-

 

The loading bay was the only place big enough to allow the whole squad to gather. All of them, save Kaidan (because he could only use one hand) and Tali (because she was still recovering) were geared up for battle. They had made sure to be part of the meeting, though. Once everyone had gathered, they all formed a semi-circular ring around Garrus. They looked at him expectantly. Their leader had chosen him as her second, and they would bloody well give him the support he deserved.

 

Garrus cleared his throat. “Okay, so everyone here?”

 

“Looks like it, Garrus”, affirmed Wrex.

 

“Right…So, here’s where we’re at. Once surveillance systems came back up, Liara spotted a Reaper ship entering the planet’s atmosphere, and coming towards our position as we speak. Liara, do we have an ETA?”

 

“Our best estimate would be about twenty minutes, Garrus”, replied Liara.

 

“Okay. We don’t have long till it hits. The fact that we were given this much of a warning is in itself, a stroke of luck…Now, I know that I’m nowhere near El as a leader. I don’t believe that I, or anyone for that matter, will ever be able to inspire everyone to rise above themselves quite like she did. But, for whatever reason, she put me down as her second-in-command. And I intend to do it as well as I can.”

 

He took a deep breath and went on.

 

“Every war has its heroes. And this war...it was the biggest that anyone in this galaxy has ever seen. It started about three years ago, and ever since it began, one name has defined the resistance. One word was instrumental in taking the Reapers down at crucial junctures of the fight. And there was always one crew…one ship that made the difference between hanging on to fight another day, and utter and total defeat. Remember the battle of the Citadel, where Saren and Sovereign were brought down. Remember the Collectors, taken out by a surgical strike beyond the Omega-4 relay, a supposed suicide mission. Remember the genophage, a nightmarish virus that endured over a millennium, cured at Tuchanka to secure a krogan-turian alliance. Remember the fall of Cerberus, nettled time and again by a single force. And remember the geth-quarian war, resolved peacefully with the destruction of a Reaper. In every instance, there was one group that answered the call. And mark my words, there will be no other group in history that will ever come close to the awe with which they will be spoken of. A crew of legends on a legendary ship. The Normandy. We are that. We are the Normandy. I’ve never regretted the choice I made to follow my leader, my mentor, and my best friend, that day, all those years ago on the Citadel. It’s been a goddamn honor to serve with you all...But now, we have a promise to keep to her. So, we will get out there and take care of whatever idiot Reaper decided it’d try to fight us, and let it know why it is always going to be a bad idea to screw with us. Like one of our dear friends liked to say...WE WILL HOLD THE LINE!”

 

Everyone cheered, and moved to go out. Suddenly, they were stopped by a familiar voice over the speakers.

 

“That may not be well-advised, everyone.”

 

Everyone stopped in shock.

 

Garrus broke the silence. He asked, “EDI?”, with some wonder.

 

“That is correct, my friend. It is good to see you all alive and well.”

 

“You’ve gotta be shitting me here. That really you, old girl?”, asked James.

 

“Yes it is, Lt. Vega. How would you like me to prove it? Maybe, seeing my mobile platform will remove doubt?”

 

“It would be a start”, commented Liara.

 

Everyone was too shocked to process what was happening, so they were essentially playing for time. A few moments later, the elevator door opened to reveal...EDI. In her ‘mobile platform’, as she called it. It had formerly been Dr. Eva.

 

“Hello, everyone”, she said.

 

Stunned silence. EDI put her hands on her hips.

 

“Well, I’d expect more ceremony, since I was part of your crew and all”, she said, sounding somewhat hurt.

 

“Err...normally, we’d hug when seeing a friend after a long time. I don’t suppose you’d actually feel that?”, asked Liara.

 

“No. No, I wouldn’t”, EDI conceded the point.

“But, the thought would count”, she added, sounding hopeful.

 

Liara laughed and strode toward EDI, hugging her platform tight. “Welcome back, old girl.”

 

“I’d hardly call myself old, but the sentiment is appreciated, Liara.”

 

Garrus and Tali went up next. He lightly punched her shoulder, while Tali hugged her tight. “Good to see you again. The last time we spoke, I was bleeding out on a stretcher”, commented Garrus.

 

EDI chuckled. “Well met, XO Vakarian. That speech was quite inspiring, by the way.”

 

“Ohhh…”, said Garrus, trailing off. He didn’t seem to know how to react to that. Suddenly, he found the N7 insignia James had painted on one of the armory walls very interesting.

 

“Hell yeah, it was. I have it all recorded too. We should call it the ‘Remember’ speech. I lost count of how many times you used the word after a point”, boomed a voice over the announcement system.

 

It was familiar to everyone there, but they were still somewhat disoriented by the almost unreal turn of events. It couldn’t be her...could it? Were they all dreaming!?

 

Wrex broke the silence, and state of suspended animation that the whole crew had been caught in. “El? That you?”, he asked, voice tentative.

 

“Good to see you aren’t going senile in your old age, Wrex, old boy. You’re correct”, replied the voice. There was a clear ripple of amusement in it.

 

Suddenly, James started laughing. It was infectious, and it passed on to each person in the room. Soon, everyone was in splits.

 

Liara wiped tears from her eyes and asked, “So, I suppose you were in on this little charade, eh, EDI?

 

EDI shuffled slightly. “She told me to lay dormant and give her access to the systems so she could monitor it and...to put it in her words, ‘give the bitches a hell of a surprise’. I would like to let it be known that I chided her for her childishness right at the outset.”

 

“Sounds about right”, said Garrus, chuckling.

 

“So, El. Where are you?”, asked Tali.

 

“A pertinent question, Tali. I’m on the Reaper that Liara spotted.”

 

The atmosphere of revelry was extinguished immediately, and was replaced by one of consternation. All of those gathered looked at each other with wide-eyed surprise, as if doing so would allow them to discern the secrets of the galaxy.

 

“Er, I should probably explain. I deactivated the Reapers with the Crucible. Their aim was to stop something they called ‘The Black Tide’. I talked to their...leader? She is an AI created by Leviathan. We merged. And, I...made the decision to take their help to rebuild and prepare the galaxy for it...As much as it pains me to say it, we aren’t done saving the galaxy. We won this war, but there’s a bigger one coming, and even I don’t fully understand what we’re up against. You guys...had to take precedence. I had to come and make sure you were safe. Help you get off this rock and to safety. I’ll understand if any of you don’t want to stick around to deal with this new threat. A comfortable life of retirement and rest...I think we’ve all earned that. You don’t need to give me your answers right away, of course. We have enough time to recover before actually making a choice.”

 

There was silence for a few moments. Everyone had questions, but the choice they’d been given was foremost in their minds.

 

Garrus cleared his throat. “You still there, El?”

 

“Huh, of course. I’ll be on comms till I reach you guys.”

 

“Then, you can have my answer now. I won’t ever leave your side. Only death can do that, and I’ve escaped the old bugger enough times to be confident it won’t be happening anytime soon.”

 

“As will I. Need someone to look after you. Miri would be swamped otherwise”, said Liara.

 

“And me. You picked me up as a kid on her Pilgrimage, and I’ve never belonged anywhere else since then. I’m coming”, piped up Tali.

 

Wrex guffawed. “El, you’re really tempting an old krogan. I’ll have to find someone to take over day-to-day governance of our clans. I have no choice but to be at your disposal whenever you need it.”

 

“Lola, you and Bimba still owe me my N7 commendation. And after that, there’s a freaking whole galaxy to explore. Count me in!”, said James, emphatically.

 

“I will need time to contemplate the manner of our victory. But, I have nothing better to do, and no one better to follow. It seems that I will have to carry on the prothean involvement in this cycle.” This, from Javik.

 

“I’ve always found it hard to wrap my head around half the things you do and most of the decisions you make. At the end of it, though, I’m here if you need me”, added Kaidan.

 

“I’ve already said that you are master of my fate, and the captain of my soul. There, wherever you need me, captain”, said EDI.

 

“Well, it looks like everyone’s sticking around, El. You can’t get rid of us that easily”, said a new voice, at the other end. It was Elisira.

 

“Eli! So, you guys made it safe to the Citadel?”, asked Liara, excitedly.

 

“Sure did. Who do you think got big sis up-and-running again? All of us are good and on-board Harby. Grunt, Sumi, Sol, and Albarn. Miri is back at the Citadel, coordinating things.”

 

“That’s really great news! Deserves a really huge party”, exclaimed Tali.

 

“There’s definitely one coming up. Big sis’ treat!”, said Elisira, laughing impishly.

 

Elia still hadn’t spoken.

 

“Aww, big sis is being all teary here.”

 

“No I’m not! There’s just...something in my eye”, said Elia, voice sounding funny. She sniffled. A dead giveaway.

 

“Yeah! Suuuuuuuure!”, drawled Garrus.

 

“Ugh! It’s not my fault. You guys had to go and be all loyal and supportive and shit. Ahh! Just...thank you. All right? Thank you. For being there. For promising to be there.”

 

“No thanks necessary, El. It’s our pleasure.”

 

“We’re nearly at your position. Don’t shoot at us, okay?”, said Elisira.

 

“No promises”, replied Liara.

 

Everyone laughed at that.

 

_ -634 years later- _

 

Elia stomped around on the ground.

 

"Does it ever stop raining on this flipping planet!", she complained, petulantly.

 

"Wouldn't know, big sis. We can ask Ree once we get to the outpost", said her little sister, Elisira, soothingly.

 

"I'll be mighty pissed if I find that I left Thessia for this sodding climate!"

 

"Quit being such a baby, El", piped up Kasumi, chuckling at Elia's discomfiture.

 

"Mistress does tend to get cranky when it rains. The last time she was happy when it rained was one hundred and forty two thousand, six hundred and twenty seven days ago", noted Ciri.

 

"I don't know if it’s fair to keep that count, considering we were in stasis for over fifty thousand of those", observed Elisira.

 

"You were all in stasis. EDI and I weren't", corrected Ciri.

 

"I stand corrected."

 

"Ugh! Enough of this discussion about my weather preferences. I see something up ahead. Lights and stuff", cut in Elia.

 

"It's probably the outpost", said Kasumi.

 

"Well, double time it then. I really, really need to pee!", said Elia, setting off on a run.

 

They reached the settlement in record time, and were directed to a large house, clearly distinguishable from the rest because it was the only one with its own rose garden.

 

A pretty human female with platinum blonde hair welcomed them in. She seemed to be a big fan of their crew.

 

"Goddess! It's really you. The Normandy crew is really here! I'm a huge fan! You guys were legend even when we left the Milky Way all those years ago", she gushed.

 

"Nice to meet you too", said Elisira, smiling.

 

"Gosh! Where are my manners!? I'm Cora. Cora Harper."

 

"I'm Elia. Elia Shepard. El for short", said Elia.

 

"Kasumi Goto. Call me Sumi", said Kasumi.

 

"Ciri", said Ciri.

 

"And I'm Elisira Shepard. You can call me Eli", finished Elisira.

 

"It's so very nice to meet you", said Cora, whose smile hadn't dropped for a second.

 

"Cora. Who is it?", asked a new voice, coming closer to the door.

 

An attractive, rather short, ponytailed redhead came out, presumably to figure out what was up.

She stopped short as she saw the group assembled there. After a moment, her face lit up in a bright smile.

 

"You guys really made it here!", she said.

 

"Certainly did, Ree", replied Elia, smirking.

 

'Ree' made a face. "Ugh, I don't call you Albarn, do I? Call me Sara. I hate my middle name!", she pouted.

 

"Dude, 'Marian' is a way nicer middle name than freaking 'Albarn'", retorted Elia.

 

"Still...", said Sara, pout never leaving her face.

 

"Oh. All right. Hi, Sara", said Elia, peaceably.

 

"What kind of shitty greeting was that? Let me show you how to do it right", said Sara, suddenly running up to Elia and glomping her. Elia was surprised at first, but returned her embrace enthusiastically.

 

"You've grown up", Elisira commented, smiling at Sara.

 

Sara looked over at her and retorted, "Yeah, that tends to happen, Eli."

 

Then, she looked over at Kasumi, and said, "We've not met, but I have heard of you, Miss. Kasumi. Pleasure to meet you!"

 

"Pleasure's all mine."

 

Sara nodded and spotted Ciri. "And you must be Ciri. Hi there", she called out.

 

"It is nice to meet you, Sara Ryder! If I may, could you tell me where Sam is?"

 

"Down the hall, room on the right. I'll take you there. Truth be told, Sam was excited about meeting you too...", put in Cora.

 

The two walked into the house, leaving the rest.

 

Sara broke away from Elia's hug and stood at the doorway, to what was presumably the living room.

"Well, I should do this officially. Welcome to Andromeda! I suppose you guys decided to make your way here to save this galaxy as well."

 

The Shepard sisters and Kasumi simply laughed.

 

-0-

**Author's Note:**

> This story is also related to/part of the other collection of stories I update every once in a while at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/762170/chapters/1426382. Check it out if you feel so inclined, and let me know what you think. Don't be too hard on me, though >_<
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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